BBC reporter discusses previous mass stabbings
A BBC correspondent has sparked major backlash after making a crucial error during a report.
Daniel Sandford, the home affairs correspondent for BBC News, was asked about the occurrence of mass knife crimes in the UK while addressing the attack that occurred in Southport, north of Liverpool, this morning.
Sanford explained: "They are extremely rare. Obviously we've had some very high profile mass stabbings which have been linked to terrorism."
He went on to reference the "most infamous stabbing" in Dunblane in 1996. However, The Dunblane massacre, which took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, was a mass shooting, not a knife crime.
Thomas Hamilton, 43, killed 16 pupils, one teacher and injured 15 others before taking his own life. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history.
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Sandford continued describing the incident as a knife crime, adding: "A significant number of primary school children were stabbed to death in a mass stabbing.
"This is not something that is in any way common and the number of mass stabbings involving children on this scale, the only one I can immediately think of is the Dunblane Primary School incident in 1996."
The video sparked outrage as furious fans took to social media to point out the huge error. One wrote: "That’s a monumental f**k up from the BBC there."
Another agreed: " This can't be real, surely? How can a reporter at that level get this so monumentally wrong?" A third angered fan said: "The fact this guy can't get the facts right about one of the single greatest atrocities in UK history is nothing short of disgraceful."
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A fourth fumed: "Nothing short of disgraceful reporting from the BBC!" Echoing this, someone else posted: "Dunblane? How can a journalist for the country’s main broadcaster get that wrong! Everyone knows that was a shooting."
Two children were killed and nine others were injured and left in critical condition after attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school earlier today. Two adults are also in a critical condition.
Chief Constable Kennedy said when officers arrived they were "shocked to find" several children had been "subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries".
She added: "It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender, armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started to attack the children inside."
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
